The English edition of Al-Akhbar has published an article by Amal Ghazal, author of the book, Islamic Reform and Arab Nationalism: Expanding the Crescent from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, 1880s-1930s.   The article, like the book, provides an accessible historical review of the Omani empire (perhaps skewed a little to the Omani perspective), and its former capital Zanzibar, on the east coast of Africa that Omanis refer to as their version of Al-Andaluz. I have to say that one of the things that impressed me the most during several visits to the Arabian or Perisan Gulf over the past couple of years are the clear signs of African influence on the Peninsula. It made me think a lot about constructed notions of African vs Arab identity, and the cultural fluidity that exists throughout the Indian Ocean in general.

That’s the kind of history that isn’t generally celebrated or even taught in schools in the West, and I got the impression that folks on the Arabian peninsula weren’t so used to celebrating their African heritage themselves. So to learn that in Zanzibar there were nationalist efforts to erase such histories doesn’t come as a huge surprise.

On a related note: while many Muslims from West Africa live in Saudi Arabia and throughout the peninsula, in light of a history of forced separation, it’s fascinating that the majority of African immigrants I run into in Dubai were Christians from East Africa. Globalization wins again I suppose.